New Threat
by Khartoum
Summary: After the Roughnecks defeat the Queen, worse comes along
1. After the Queen's Death

This is a piece of fiction. It is not intended to interfere with the official Starship Troopers produced by Bohbot Kids Network. Official characters and Bugs mentioned in this story are property of Bohbot Kids Network. All other characters and intellectual property rights are mine.  
  
New Threat  
  
It had been over a week since the final battle into the Bug Hive on Earth. Over a hundred Marauders had been necessary to go down into that hole, simply to make sure that one would make it to the Queen, and kill her. But the job had been done, and the queen was dead. Rico's Roughnecks were the heroes, and had been given two weeks off, and could ask for whatever duty they wanted after that. They had been paraded, partied, and generally celebrated for so long, they were getting tired of it.  
  
"Hey Goss, what's for breakfast?" asked Higgins. He had been quietly resting on his bed (no bunks for the heroes), and was nursing a hangover.  
  
"Whatever it is, it better do something about this dropship going through my brain." Gossard was also nursing a hangover, but seemed to be taking it better. He was a little older, and had more experience with parties, and the result the next morning. But even he was feeling the aftereffects.  
  
"Why don't we call Doc, and ask him if he has anything?"  
  
"Go right ahead Higgins." Secretly Gossard was waiting for Higgins to call, because Gossard knew that Doc liked to sleep late, and when the phone rang, Doc would also be nursing a hangover.  
  
Not knowing what was going to happen, Higgins slowly moved over to the edge of the bed to the table that separated his bed from Gossard's, and began trying to puzzle out the method on how to call another room.  
  
Doc was sleeping soundly, when suddenly an explosion went off. Sitting bolt upright, Doc winced as the explosion occurred again. He had been sleeping soundly when it happened, and he was very annoyed. Looking around to find the source, he saw the phone next to his bed blinking, and his mind slowly adjusted to the horrible sound of a phone ringing.  
  
"Whoever this is, it better be a planetary emergency to wake me up."  
  
"Um, Doc, Goss and I were just wondering if you had anything for a hangover."  
  
Doc recognized the quiet voice as Higgins, and that reduced his temper slightly. Not that much though. "Higgins, don't you think that if I had something for a hangover, I would have used it?"  
  
"Got any aspirin then?"  
  
"Call room service." With that, Doc hung up the phone, and promptly went back to sleep.  
  
Higgins looked back at Gossard, and shook his head no. But even that movement was enough to make his head spin, and he passed out again.  
  
Gossard had already laid back down and was fast asleep.  
  
*  
  
Max Brutto had gone home to see his dad, but had been partied by the local town. Now he was waking up, and didn't recognize the room he was in. Having partied hard while he was younger, he was used to the hangover, and was able to stop the room spinning in a few minutes. He looked over to his left, and saw someone's face. Focusing, he was able to identify the face as female. He moved one arm out from under the covers, and rested it on top the cover. He felt an arm over his chest, but it felt weird. He pinched it, and heard a definitely female "ow".  
  
But that voice had come from his right. Turning his head, he saw another female face there. 'Hmm, great night', he thought. Be better if he could remember what had happened.  
  
He reached over her, and saw a third girl there. 'Definitely a great night.' Reaching the phone after a couple tries, he dialed his dad. "Um, Dad, can you trace this call?"  
  
"Why son?"  
  
"I just woke up in bed with three girls, and can't remember what happened."  
  
For the next few seconds, Max heard his dad laughing his head off, before his dad was finally able to answer. "Just a moment son. I'll get it in a moment. Ah, you're at the local Motel ten, a few miles down the road. I'll see you in a few hours then, just in time for the relatives that will be arriving."  
  
With that, his dad hung up the phone, and Max turned back to the girls. They had started to get up, and were looking at each other with curiosity.  
  
"Hey girls, what do you think of last night?" called Max.  
  
The girls just looked at him and laughed, as they finished getting dressed, and left him in the room alone. Max groaned, and began locating his clothes from around the room to get dressed.  
  
*  
  
Juan "Johnny" Rico gently turned over in the bed. He still was not used to anything other than a bunk on board the Roger Young, and getting to sleep last night had been difficult.  
  
"Mornin' sleepyhead." Isabelle "Dizzy" Flores turned over to Johnny, and hugged him from behind. "Did you enjoy last night as much as I did?"  
  
"Definitely." Diz was the other reason he had taken so long getting to sleep last night. He remembered how they had had an on-again, off-again friendship over the three years the Bug war had been going on. He had simply been so stuck on Carmen that he had been blinded to the fact that Diz loved him. Now with the Bug war over, they could get on with their feelings, without worrying about some carnivorous insect trying to kill them. True, there were several worlds still controlled by Bugs, but without the Queen to direct them and to lay eggs, those worlds would not be a threat.  
  
Already there were forces on their way to Hydora, Tesca Nemerosa, and other worlds that SICON had been forced to abandon to the Bugs in order to get Fleet and MI units to earth to combat the Queen bug and her minions. While they had been underground fighting the queen, three Bug transports had tried to sneak in and give the queen reinforcements, but the fleet units in orbit had managed to defeat them. Several ships had been damaged, but with the fixed defenses and the few ships left behind, the Bugs would not be able to get to earth again.  
  
An arm crept around his shoulders, and Johnny Rico turned back to Diz, knowing that they were finally safe from the Bugs.  
  
*  
  
Carl lay back in his bed, resting. He had expended a lot of effort to keep the Queen bug's mental powers from killing the troopers who had gone after her, and he could still barely move. But he was enjoying the current sensation, as the joy of everyone on the planet poured through him, relieved that the bug threat on earth was taken care of. It was pure bliss to feel everyone's happiness, and Carl turned some of his own abilities to helping his body heal from the stress that he had gone through.  
  
Dr. Saatabi came in, and remarked, "You're not supposed to be straining yourself you know. You are here to heal, not do heavy thinking." But that comment was made with a grin, as she had been there, keeping him alive as he had tackled the Queen mind to mind, while other psychics had been jamming the communication between the Queen and her troops to help the soldiers who had gone into the hole.  
  
"I am healing. Whatever minor aches I get are more than made up for by the bliss I feel when I listen to the people on Earth celebrating. But I will think about what you said."  
  
"I'd prefer if you didn't think instead, and just healed yourself." But there was a smile on her face, and she left him in his room, to relax and heal.  
  
*  
  
Carmen was also relaxing, in a way. She had managed to get a hold of a fighter jet, and was currently engaged in teaching younger pilots the ropes of how to handle their new fighters. 'Younger? They're only a few years younger than me.' She sighed again, and continued to encourage her charges to press their machines to the limits, and to keep conscious even under twelve or more Gs.  
  
*  
  
Charlie Zim was not relaxing. Rico had left him the paperwork, and now he was busy filling out the forms and everything else, for when the Roughnecks got back together, they would be wanting their favorite billets, no matter what that could be. As a result, he had been stuck with the job of getting open slots from every possible location, and listing them in some order for when the squad got back.  
  
Zim cursed again, but he knew that rank did have its privileges, and this was one time where he was on the receiving end of it.  
  
*  
  
Colonel T'Phai was staying at the Death Valley Hotel with his wife. His children were playing in the next room, and he and his wife were lying in bed together. It had been too long since he had seen her, and they were able to enjoy each other's scent for the first time in a long while. The whole hotel was for his people, even if the surrounding area was cold for his people. He knew that this was among the hottest areas on Earth's surface, but it was barely warmer than the polar caps of his planet. Still though, it was worth it to be out of his armor, and with his family.  
  
He heard a thump from the next room, and wondered what had happened. He was just about to get up, when his wife turned over, and said, "Let them play. It has been the first time in so long that they could play for fun without any fear."  
  
T'Phai again thanked whatever force existed in the galaxy for having such a wonderful woman pick him to be her mate.  
  
*  
  
General Miriam Redwing was looking over the recent MI deployments. She knew that there were still Ripplers on some of the planets, and a couple Queen Ripplers too. Those flying insects would spit spikes at anything that looked like a promising target, and if the queens managed to get off-world, they could lay hundreds of eggs in new locations, compounding the clean-up of the Bug forces.  
  
Still, without the Queen Bug to lay new eggs, there would only be a finite supply of Queen Ripplers, meaning that all they had to do was kill the Queens to eliminate the only part of the Bug forces that could reproduce.  
  
*  
  
Fleet Commander Barlow was looking over his fleet's repairs, discouraged that he couldn't take part in the final clean-up, but knowing that the other Fleet officers out there would do an excellent job by themselves. He looked over the Earth system map, which showed the latest data on anything that was in the solar system.  
  
There appeared to be a few contacts out there, near Neptune's orbit, that weren't broadcasting their IFF codes. He got on the comms with a couple pilots, and asked them to check out the contacts.  
  
*  
  
Lieutenant Wilson was leading her wingman out to investigate the new contacts. They had been performing routine patrols of the solar system, looking for any Bug asteroids that might still be on their way after the Queen had been killed, when they had been ordered to check out the unknowns.  
  
Not a problem. She gently eased her fighter around, and began scanning the sky with her new sensor system, looking for the unknowns that had served to make her boring day just a little more interesting. The scanner began giving her more and more data as she got closer.  
  
"This is Lieutenant Wilson to Fleet command. Have picked up the bogies, and my scanner reports that there are ten to twelve targets. Tracks look consistent with a vector towards Earth. Looks like a cluster of asteroids incoming."  
  
"Copy that Lieutenant, can you get close enough to get an indication on the masses of the asteroids?"  
  
"On the way sir." Switching to her wingman's radio, she said, "Dagger two, this is Dagger One. Follow me in, and scan those asteroids to get a good read on their masses and composition. Fleet Command wants to know what's coming towards them."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
The two fighters continued towards the targets, occasionally correcting their course. Things continued on well, with Lieutenant Wilson recording the size and mass of the leading asteroids, while her wingman began scanning the trailers.  
  
"Dagger One this is Two! The trailers are not asteroids, repeat not asteroids! They're Bug transports! There's eight of them, and they all read as full!"  
  
"Dagger two, this is One. Confirm your scans."  
  
"Dagger One I confirm. There are eight Bug transports in the rear group. Also, is it me, or do the four in front seem to be guarding the transports?"  
  
Lieutenant Wilson looked back at her plot. Now that Two had mentioned it, it did seem as though the four asteroids in front were sweeping space in front of them for any targets. If the Dagger flight had used the same sensors as they had used during the war, they would have had to get in much closer before discovering the transports.  
  
She quickly retuned her sensors to scan the asteroid in front of her. The asteroid had unusual biological readings. They seemed oddly familiar, and she wondered where she had seen that configuration before. Suddenly it hit her. The Ice Bug that the Roughnecks had crashed on! These were probably related to them! There even seemed to be six additional parts on it, but seemed to be totally unrelated to any Bug propulsion or transportation system ever seen.  
  
Even as she watched though, the lead Bug ship began extending those parts, and began slightly turning in space. A charge built up, and six balls of plasma shot out.  
  
"Dagger One heads up! Bug plasma inbound!"  
  
"Evade"  
  
Both fighters immediately broke off their runs, intending to avoid the plasma spheres that were heading towards them. Seeing a calm moment, Lieutenant Wilson began recording data on the plasma spheres, trying to get a read on them.  
  
But the other three vessels were extending their plasma weapons, and were volleying fire towards the three fighters. Dodging and weaving, the two fighters were finally able to pull out of range of the plasma spheres.  
  
"Fleet Command this is Dagger One. Inbounds are eight Bug Transports and four Ice Bugs with six plasma weapons each. Am downloading data on the plasma spheres for further study. Recommend we get some help up here."  
  
"Copy that Dagger One. Return to Earth base. We're going to have to face them with the help of the fixed defenses. The other bases are sending us their mobile units, so expect lots of company."  
  
"Copy that Command." "Dagger One to Dagger two, return to base. We've got lots of Bugs, and we're going to try to beat them."  
  
"Copy that One."  
  
*  
  
Back at Fleet Command, Fleet CDR Morgan was sweating the first reports from the battle staff.  
  
"Sir, we estimate those plasma blasts as at least thirty times stronger than the standard plasma bug volley, and those cannons seem able to fire more often that plasma bugs. Given average conditions, it would only take two of those blasts to destroy one of our ships. Even after the first blast, the ship will be only 15% combat capable, and the second blast will totally destroy the ship. The bases are tougher, and can withstand three blasts, but what's left will be a shattered ruin.  
  
"Our main attack will have to be done in two groups; the fighters to destroy the plasma cannons, and the warships to polish them off. We don't know if Plasma bugs have been stationed on the Ice Bugs, so our fighters will have to watch out for them. After the plasma guns had been neutralized, the warships will move in to destroy the ships. Fighters will have to cover them again, for when the transport bugs launch their fighters. The bases' main job should be to prevent any Bug vessel from doing a kamikaze on Earth to release more Bugs for us to mess with. We can support the bases by using retrieval ships and dropships to shoot down any bugs that make it into the atmosphere. MI units can also be mobilized around critical areas, with retrieval ships to carry them to wherever any strong Bug forces make it through."  
  
"Good plan. I think we'll go with it. All right people, get those fighters prepped, get the warships on-line, and ask General Redwing to issue recall commands to all MI units on-planet. If they are needed, we want them to be ready. The bases can also support us with their missile fire, and I want continuous tracking updates from anyone in range."  
  
"Sir, they'll be passing behind Jupiter in a few minutes, and we won't be able to see them during that time. They will be in view again in five minutes after they disappear, if their track holds steady."  
  
Morgan thought. 'Jupiter, jupiter, what is important . . . asteroids. The asteroid belt. If they hide in the belt . . .'  
  
"I want a squadron of fighters launched now! Make sure that the Bugs don't try to hide in the asteroid belt as they pass through."  
  
Several gasps erupted as the command staff and crew realized what the commander meant. The Bugs could travel to the asteroid belt, and launch asteroids toward Earth, and travel to earth while the defenses were busy dealing with the asteroids. A quick series of orders rang out, and a squadron of fighters was launched, and they put their drives to full power, trying to get beyond the asteroids so they could spot the Bugs and track them.  
  
*  
  
General Redwing got the call, and gasped in shock. She knew how tough it had been to throw the Bugs out the first time, and that was with one Queen plus whatever managed to escape the transport with her. This was eight transports, undoubtedly with a couple Rippler Queens, with lots of back-up troops for them as well. But those thoughts took only a second to think, and she immediately pressed the button that would signal all MI units to active duty immediately.  
  
Alarms rang out on the planet, and beepers sounded. MI troops that were relaxing or on leave found themselves being recalled to duty, and the priority one symbol on their communicators told them that they could commandeer any vehicle they felt like in order to get to their destination. They had priority at any location, except where other units were also getting to duty.  
  
A skimmer showed up outside a hotel, and nervous MIs piled in, getting the sleep out of their eyes while the pilot broke every driving law getting them to their base. Recovery vessels swooped out of the sky, picking up troopers who had gone home to see their parents or family. Arriving at their respective bases, squads got together, and piled into the main briefing room.  
  
In the main room, they were given a quick run-down on everything that had occurred, and they realized the threat they faced. To prevent any Bugs from landing, there was only a half-dozen damaged ships in orbit, along with the bases, plus themselves to prevent any Bugs from landing and attacking again.  
  
Their squad positions were assigned, and they went quickly to their locations, with each squad given a skimmer or retrieval ship to help them get around. For now, all they could do was wait, for the opening battle would begin in space.  
  
*  
  
"They will be passing behind Jupiter in five, four, three, two, one, now. The fighters are still a couple minutes away from the asteroid belt, but they should get past the belt before the Bugs get past Jupiter." Reported the plotting officer.  
  
"So we have roughly five minutes before any of our sensors will be able to spot them again?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"How are preparations on-planet coming?"  
  
"Troopers are being deployed as we speak. Bases are activating their anti-aircraft weaponry in case any Bugs land on top of them and Civil Defense has everybody in shelters. If it's moving above ground the troopers know that it will be either another trooper, or a bug. Good luck to you Commander."  
  
"You too General. Looks like the Bugs are throwing one last gasp at us. If we can break this, we can break them."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
*  
  
Four minutes had gone by, and the fighters had continued on their course. During their trip, they had detected minor plasma trails, as though the Bugs were testing their weaponry, but nothing else had occurred. They were past the asteroid belt, and were waiting for the Bugs to show themselves.  
  
"Commander Morgan, we are beyond the asteroid belt and are holding position. Do you want us to go ahead to spot the Bugs?"  
  
"Negative on that for now Lieutenant. We'll let them show themselves first, then you can shadow them to make sure no ships are missing."  
  
*  
  
Commander Morgan looked at his plot. If the Bugs had held to their course, they would be coming out from behind Jupiter just about now.  
  
'Huh? Nothing's coming out?'  
  
"Tracking, do you have any sign of the Bug vessels?"  
  
"Negative Sir. Maybe they're still behind Jupiter?"  
  
"Could be. We'll wait a minute, and then the fighters will go around to check it out."  
  
The minute came and went, and still there had been no sign of the Bugs. "Fighter group one, you are go for exploring around Jupiter for any sign of the Bugs."  
  
"On the way sir."  
  
The fighters punched their drives to full power, and hurtled behind Jupiter, attempting to blow past the Bugs before they could react and open fire. They traveled around Jupiter, and picked up readings on their scanners. Hurtling towards those readings, the fighters saw. . .  
  
"My gosh, what happened?" 


	2. Something else

The fighters banked around Jupiter, looking for the Bug warships that were there. But what they saw instead was worse, if possible.  
  
Pieces of Bug ships tumbled through space. They could see fragments as large as their fighters, but very few pieces were larger. Even more incredible was that this destruction had been achieved in less than six minutes, for the unknowns to be gone by now. She had to report this to Fleet Command.  
  
"Fleet Command, this is Vector Squadron. All Bug ships have been destroyed. I repeat all Bug ships have been destroyed. There is currently no evidence of the attacker, and no signs of life from the Bug ships. Orders?"  
  
Everybody in the command center was gaping in shock from the report. They knew that it would have taken several minutes for one of their ships to close on and destroy a single transport, and whoever had did this had to have been just as quick, and they had never seen them!  
  
"Vector Squadron, this is Fleet Command. We're sending out a couple recovery ships with troopers and scientists on board. I want you there to cover them in case any of those vessels still have functioning weapons, or they need an entrance."  
  
"Yes sir. I doubt that they will need an entrance though sir, I'm only reading five fragments that are larger than my fighter."  
  
"Copy that. Command out."  
  
*  
  
Two recovery ships were launched from one of the orbital bases, each containing an MI squad, and a couple of scientists. The rest of the space was taken up by the Marauder suits, and sample containers. The sample containers were for whatever the scientists thought would be important, while the Marauder suits were in case there was anything dangerous still living.  
  
In the meantime, every piece of tracking data was pulled out of the system's memories, in an attempt to find who or what had done this, and to thank them. The other possibility, that the newcomers were hostile, was thought by everyone there but they hoped it wasn't true. For if they could do that much damage to the Bug ships, they could do just as much or worse against the SICON forces.  
  
*  
  
A couple hours later, the recovery ships had arrived at the debris field, and everyone there stared for a couple seconds at the massive amount of pieces. The lieutenant got everyone back to reality, and told them to move out. Being equipped with a space thruster system, the troopers began moving to each piece in turn, checking it for any remaining Bugs, and pronouncing it clean for the scientists to examine.  
  
The scientists in turn, called for several ships to make a kind of net back at the base, and use that net to sweep up the pieces. What the scientists would try to do is to reassemble the Bug ships, in order to determine what happened, and how long it took to happen. One sergeant looked at one piece though, and recommended that it be taken back also. One side of it appeared to be perfectly flat, and he knew that a perfectly flat surface didn't occur naturally, or on Bug ships.  
  
The scientists were also gathering pieces for genetic analysis, and to determine what types of weapons had been used, and their damage capacity.  
  
*  
  
Back on Earth, all the MI forces were staring at their commanding lieutenants in shock. They had all read the reports about how tough Bug transports were, and since all the Bug ships had been destroyed, whoever did this was tougher.  
  
The Roughnecks were no different, and were staring at Lieutenant Rico as he told them the news. "All we know for certain is that eight Bug transports and four Ice Bugs were destroyed within six minutes, and we have no idea who did it. I have a hunch though, that this is just a demonstration of their capability.  
  
"In the meantime, we have also received new orders. Our leaves are over, so I hope you all enjoyed yourselves, 'cause we're going back to the front. With the Queen dead, Intel believes the Bugs will start coming apart at the seams. Still, Bugs are tough, and on any world with a Brain Bug, you can bet they will be waiting."  
  
"Sir, any word on what destroyed the Bug transports?" asked Higgins.  
  
"None yet. But they have done a rough analysis of the Ice Bugs that were with them. Those Ice Bugs are their version of a battleship. The one we met earlier was immature apparently, and either hadn't had time to develop its heavy weapons, or this is a new species of Bug starship."  
  
"If there are no further questions, let's get aboard our ship. We're back on board the Valley Forge, and we're going to kill more Bugs. Move it Roughnecks!"  
  
With grins, the squad moved on board the dropship waiting to take them back to the Valley Forge. They had been relaxing for what felt like long enough; long enough to enjoy it, but short enough that they hadn't lost their combat edge. With a new campaign heating up against the Bugs, their combat edge would all that stood between them and death.  
  
*  
  
Ships formed up in the space around Earth. The ships that still needed work done had had their useful components pulled, and installed on less-damaged ships. SICON High Command wanted to get the Bugs on the defensive, and the more ships and troopers that could be allocated to the task, the easier it would be. The powerful ships pulled away, heading out into the void, intending to bring the war back to the Bugs, and exterminate them. For the ships that remained, SICON R&D was developing new weapons, and the room left by removing the older components would give them plenty of space to install new weapons and equipment.  
  
Standard warship weaponry for the SICON forces was both continuous and pulse lasers, long-range missiles, and their onboard fighters, with smaller versions of the starship weapons, along with their own gatling style guns. There were rumors in the works about new lasers all the time, and for the people left behind, they would get to find out first if the rumors were true.  
  
Bug weaponry, on the other hand, tended towards armed transports and, just recently, the armed Ice Bugs. Transports had holes on their back where plasma Bugs could climb out from the storage area below, and use their own plasma batteries to defend the transport. Although extremely exposed to enemy fire, and not very accurate, there were usually eighty to ninety Plasma Bugs used, and the volume of fire was incredible. When there was only a single ship attacking a transport, all the Plasma Bugs had to do was point themselves at the single enemy ship, and volley fire until they were destroyed, or the enemy was. If they were destroyed, that was no matter, as the transport usually had several hundred of them on board. The armed Ice Bugs used larger versions of the plasma batteries, and while they couldn't aim as quickly, their firepower was such that two hits were all that was necessary to vaporize the target. With the Bugs own genetic adaptations racing along, the Bugs own firepower doubled roughly every five years, while staying at the same weight and power demand.  
  
*  
  
The first ships were arriving at their targets; Hydora, Tesca Namerosa, Beta Temaxis, Shrike twelve, Tophet, Klendathu, and others were being hit in the first wave. Hydora was being hit with troops trained in water operations, as the entire planet was one giant ocean, except for a few islands here and there. Tesca Namerosa was an Earth-like world that orbited a gas giant. Although it was beyond the range for liquid water to form base on the heat of the star, the heat from the gas giant gave it the few degrees it needed for life to develop. Beta Temaxis was another Earth-like world, but it was primarily a jungle planet, with small lakes everywhere. Shrike twelve was the fifth planet of the second star in a binary system, which had seven planets in the primary system, and six in the secondary. This system was very young, and the Earth-like planet was undergoing random evolution when the humans arrived. The planet's evolution was now being guided by a few scientists there, while the rich ore deposits were feeding the industries at Earth. When the Bugs had hit the planet, the supply of ores for Earth had been reduced by twenty percent, with a corresponding decrease in ship production, and increase in concern by the general staff. With a strike team going back in, the hungry orbital shipyards of earth would be fed again, turning out the new machines needed to fight the Bugs.  
  
Fortunately the planet Tophet, home world of the Skinnies, had not been conquered by the Bugs, but a majority of the ships in orbit had had their metal components replaced by advanced composites, courtesy of Skinny industry, and sheer necessity. The Bugs had been grinding away at the defenses in orbit, and the humans had not had any reinforcements since the queen arrived on Earth. With the queen gone, the Bug attacks had stopped, and the weary defenders there were relaxing for a change. Three strike vessels were on the way, escorting ten transports, with fuel, weapons, ammunition, and all the other necessities of war.  
  
But Klendathu, that was the gem. The original home world of the Bugs, it had an atmosphere that was toxic to humans, but the Bugs were perfectly at home breathing it. But this would be an important milestone. It would show the entire planet and all the humans everywhere that when humans conquer someone's homeworld, it stays conquered. Troops had been withdrawn from the planet in order to get the Bugs off Earth, and those troops were aching to return to their 'home'. With the Bugs on Earth gone, High Command was more than happy to send them back.  
  
Even now, ships were approaching the systems, intent on bringing the Bug controlled worlds under the control of humans. The fleets dropped out of FTL drive at the edge of the system, and began their steady drive to the planets they were to conquer, or assist. At the Bug controlled systems, troopers began getting their gear ready to drop, crews began readying weapons of destruction, and fighter pilots were receiving their briefings. Scanners were up, looking for targets, and relaying their data to the human minds that would decide where to unleash their payloads of death.  
  
Fighters were launched, flying ahead of the fleets, scouting for any Bug ships in the area, or other such surprises. As the fleets continued in, the fighter pilots reported (regrettably?) that there were no enemy vessels sighted in their flight paths, or anywhere near. Then the klaxons moaned, telling the troops to get to their dropships, and get ready for drop. There was no need for briefings, as the time to target had been spent briefing the troopers on where to go, and what to expect. There had been no change needed from the plans, and the dropships were launched from the main vessels, bringing their up close and personal form of destruction to the planets. Hydora was assaulted, with troopers immediately heading for the caves where Queen Ripplers could be, attempting to draw out the Bugs instead of having to go in after them. Tesca Nemerosa received the same treatment, with troopers setting their base at Zegema beach back up, and preparing for the Bugs to try to resist. Beta Temaxis was assaulted, with the troopers landing near a lake, but with clear solid ground all around. If the Bugs wanted to come after the grounded troopers, they would be seen above ground, and heard chewing through the rock if they came from below.  
  
Troopers and Fleet personnel around Tophet rejoiced, as they received the first contact with outside forces in almost two months. Many of them had thought they were left out there, but humans fight for one another, and the transports brought with them fresh supplies, and that human supply in combat, mail. Many of the personnel in that cut-off fleet had been declared Missing in Action (MIA), and the welcome news that they were alive touched the hearts and minds of millions on Earth, bringing fresh good news to everyone.  
  
But those were the easy missions. The crews headed for Klendathu, and Shrike Twelve knew they were going in to strongly held Bug grounds. Klendathu, as everyone knew, was the Bug home world, with a corresponding increase of defending troops, and new varieties of Bugs that would have to be discovered and destroyed, while Shrike Twelve was a planet that was just beginning its process of evolution, and had an abundance of heavier elements, ripe for the Bugs to convert to their own forms. Each of them knew that they would be facing a long, drawn out struggle, and each inch of ground would be paid for in the currency of death and suffering.  
  
But they were about to discover something even worse.  
  
The fighter pilots heading towards Shrike Twelve noticed it first, as Shrike Twelve had been surrounded by three moons when they left. Now there were only two moons, and both of them had been vastly reduced in size. Proceeding nearer to the planet, they detected Bugs on the planet, and Bug plasma reached up for them, but in far lesser numbers than anticipated. The data was relayed to the assault fleet, and the Admiral in charge of the assault told his Intel liaison officer to find out what was going on.  
  
But that was the mild surprise, for the pilots reaching Klendathu found something even more horrible.  
  
The fighters again spotted the difference, but the difference was on Klendathu itself. Previously, Klendathu had been a roughly Earth-sized planet, wrapped in a mildly toxic atmosphere. Although breathable by humans, it was better if not breathed at all. But Klendathu was far different this time. As the fighters orbited the grey, dead world, they all wondered, 'Who could do this to the Bugs?'  
  
Arriving at Klendathu, the fleet's more powerful sensors began recording more data, and dropships full of troopers were ordered down to take samples of various areas. The first bits of data were coming in from the scanners, and the results given at the first briefing made them all sit up and take notice.  
  
"As you can see, the planet's atmosphere has been totally ruined. Not to mention, we estimate that one kilometer of the surface of the planet has, simply, been removed. The planet's new diameter is 12762 kilometers, from its old diameter of 12763 kilometers. While this may not seem like a lot, that is a total volume of almost two hundred million cubic kilometers. We know that the average density of the rock to be twenty billion tons per cubic kilometer. Figuring that the Bugs dug out so much below that half of that volume is air; we halve that number to get ten billion tons per cubic kilometer.  
  
"The net result is that whoever did this, took away one thousand nine hundred million, billion tons of material while we were away for two months dealing with the queen. That is a nineteen with seventeen zeroes after it."  
  
The whole room was looking at him in shock. Whoever or whatever had done this had managed to steal away more material in two months, than their entire fleet was composed of, even if you double counted the material used from destroyed ships in building new ones. Even with their large Methuselah class starships weighing in at on hundred thousand tons each, it would take their building program over a thousand years to come anywhere near that figure. And that was with everything they had dedicated to building new ships, with nothing being done to repair existing ships, or even build planetary items for civilians.  
  
"Not only that, but we have some disturbing reports from the troopers below. Parts of the surface have unusual depressions in them, and with some computer assistance, we have determined that these craters are the result of meteorites. All the craters occurred within the past two months, so I believe it is safe to assume that whoever carted off the top of the planet also dropped the meteors. In order for these craters to still exist, they were either fired after the removal was complete, during the removal, or before. If they were fired afterwards, then the meteors were in the one hundred megaton range, if fired during they were in the one hundred to ten thousand megaton range, but if they were fired before the removal, they were at least ten thousand megatons each."  
  
"With MI squads on the ground now, we can ask them to begin digging for the meteorites, and we can get a better idea of how big the meteorites, or should I say projectiles, were." With those words, the lieutenant giving the presentation signaled that she was ready for questions to begin, if not ready for giving any answers.  
  
"Lieutenant, has the atmosphere content assisted you in getting any clues as to how long ago this occurred?"  
  
"I'm sorry sir, but with the atmosphere on Klendathu being all but gone, it will take several weeks for any results to be useful."  
  
"Lieutenant, has anyone looked for any 'splash effect' from the projectiles hitting the planet? If there is a lot, then that tells us that the projectiles arrived after the removal, while if little or none tells us that the projectiles arrived during or before."  
  
"Sir, we haven't gotten a chance to examine the photos carefully enough, but initial looks are that there is no splash sir."  
  
Various other questions followed, but the final conclusion was that the projectiles had arrived either during or before the removal, and they had no idea that would have done this, or how they managed to do it so quickly.  
  
*  
  
On the ground Mobile Infantry squads were busy digging in the dirt, getting deeper into the craters, with no success yet. Engineering teams were called in at the sites of two of the larger craters, in an attempt to dig deeper into the mystery. Finally, after three solid days of digging with heavy machinery, one of the engineers struck meteorite. They began digging out the sides to see how big it was, and after they were twenty meters wide, they saw how big the projectile was.  
  
Half a meter wide.  
  
The whole projectile was roughly half a meter wide, and one and a half meters tall. It was an oval shape, so its total volume was less than a cylinder's volume, but the projectile massed only two tons. There was a lot of heat-induced melting at the bottom end, and the rock that had been punched through was kept, so the engineers could determine just how fast it had been going when it had hit.  
  
In the meantime, the troopers were going over the surface of the planet, in case any Bugs had been missed during the bombardment, and the removal. They were scared, and their lieutenants had a difficult time keeping them calm. They were professionals, and they knew that who or whatever did this could easily come back and do it again.  
  
*  
  
On the planet Shrike Twelve, the Intel personnel were going through similar shock. The Moon that had been removed had massed over one billion tons, but there seemed to be several new asteroids in the star system. Backtracking their orbits, showed that they had originated at the two remaining moons, indicating that the asteroids had come from the moons, and had merely been launched into space. Even more likely, the asteroids were intended to be caught by something, and the human fleet had arrived before that could have happened. They didn't know what had done this, but it was nice to know that they weren't perfect.  
  
As they attacked the Bug planet, they saw similar craters to what had been spotted on Klendathu, but the sheer scope astounded them. One of the craters was over three miles wide, and the Intel team in orbit found several of them in a funny line. After analyzing the data, they found that all three craters were in the same orbital plane and a slight angle was evident in them. Measuring the angles and the line of the craters indicated that the same unit had fired those shots. When they looked further, several of the impact rays, where debris flung up by the impacts, was on top of another set of rays, and under others from the same crater. A rough estimate of time indicated that the craters had been formed within one minute of each other.  
  
*  
  
But that speculation was halted, as scanners picked up three Bug ships coming into the system, and the ships moved into position to intercept. There were eight vessels there, and the crews knew that they would have an easy time picking off the Bug ships. Fighters were loaded and launched, while on-board crews began readying the defensive guns for anti-plasma fire. Missiles dropped into their launchers, and reloads slid into place, ready to feed the launchers.  
  
AS the fighters began closing on the Bug ships, their scanners showed debris venting from the sides of one of the Bug ships, and there seemed to be something at the edge of their scanners. But as the fighters got closer, the objects seemed to be retreating, and then there were only the Bugs to worry about. Their long-range visual sensors watched as Plasma Bugs trundled up onto the backs of the three ships, and began turning to the main swarm of fighters. Plasma blasts began pumping out, and the fighters moved to a looser formation to avoid the incoming fire.  
  
But that looser formation was for another purpose as well, as the fighters began to volley missiles at the Plasma Bugs. The first few missiles were intercepted by Bug plasma, but the explosions shocked a couple more Plasma Bugs, and the missiles struck. Each missile that hit knocked several other Plasma Bugs off slightly, and the remaining missiles took advantage of the confusion to kill off all the remaining Plasma Bugs up top. The pilots watched as the last of this group of Plasma Bugs was taken out, and their visual sensors told them that the next batch of the Plasma Bugs was moving into place. Missiles flashed out again, seeking to destroy their targets, robotic minions doing the bidding of their organic masters.  
  
Now the Bug transports began launching their fighters. Looking like little more than smaller version of the transport Bugs themselves, the Fighter Bugs were equipped with their own plasma cannons, and sped towards the waiting fleet. Their typical attack strategy was to fire their plasma, then kamikaze into a human ship to damage or destroy it.  
  
Half the human fighters turned around to deal with this threat, and the Bugs displayed a new species; space-capable Ripplers. The Bug fighters were extremely large and cumbersome, and the Bugs had decided that the best way to deal with a nimble opponent was with another nimble opponent. Each Transport launched over two hundred each of the new Ripplers, and the fighter pilots suddenly found themselves in a vicious dogfight for their lives. A fighter's missile could take out a Rippler easily, but when you only had two missiles remaining and were outnumbered by five to one, missiles weren't the ultimate answer. Over the tactical network, grunts could be heard, as pilots pulled hard turns to keep the Ripplers in sight to use their guns on them. The close-quarters dog fighting against the Ripplers was dangerous, as a Rippler that was after one fighter could suddenly veer off to attack another fighter, and land on it. As a Rippler landed on a fighter, they would attack the cockpit, trying to tear away the canopy to get to the juicy pilot inside.  
  
The worst part was for the fighter pilots, as they flew a narrow balance of keeping close to the Ripplers, while not being too close. The pilots that were headed after the Bug larger fighters, now being termed as Bug gunboats, or gunbugs, could not turn back to help their fellow pilots, as the transport Bugs were coming in closer as well, using their plasma Bug fire to suppress any fire that the SICON fleet vessels would have added to the fight. The SICON ships were fighting valiantly, and one of the Bug transports was destroyed, but the other two kept on coming. It seemed that no matter how heavy the firepower was applied against the Bug transports, they just kept on coming towards the planet. The captains knew that if even one of those transport Bugs made it to the planet, there would be tens of thousands more Bugs on the planet. While it would be good to get the remaining Bugs away from the others and destroy the scattered parts, they also knew that the victory would be bought in blood.  
  
Even more frightening was what happened next. 


	3. Blips

The current situation was spread out in a holographic tank for Admiral Falksten to see. At the closer edge of the tank was the eight vessels he had under his command, in green. one third of the way across the tank were the icons representing the gunbugs. Two-thirds of the way across the tankwere two groups of icons. The group on the left was the fighters trying to catch up to the gunbugs before the gunbugs got to the warships. The other group was the massive dogfight taking place between roughly five hundred Space Ripplers and three hundred human fighters. Finally, at the other end of the tank, were the two remaining Transport Bugs, heading in as fast as they could. There were small lines extending from each of the icons, indicating their relative speeds. The length of the lines could be varied at the Admiral's whim, to show greater or lesser detail. Right now, it showed that the mess of gunbugs would arrive at the warships in one minute, with the fighters pursuing them twenty seconds behind.  
  
As the gunbugs approached, they began angling slightly, and it looked like they were intending to go after the five warships to the port side of his formation. Defensive lasers and autocannon were angled to meet the threat, and all crewmembers on those ships tightened their restraining straps for the inevitable plasma rounds. Calling up a local image on one monitor, the Admiral watched as the first plasma bolts began being fired by the gunbugs. First a couple, then a dozen more, then a score, and soon the formation of gunbugs was belching plasma fire towards his ships.  
  
Computers took the readings from several ships, triangulated from the data, and updated his display.  
  
"Sir, all the plasma fire is being directed only at the Thereas and the Holmstead."  
  
"Why are they only firing at those two ships? Plotting, get me a read on how many plasma shots are heading in."  
  
"Working."  
  
But those conversations between the admiral and his staff were irrelevant to the two ships targeted, and their automated and human directed defenses went to rapid fire, trying to disrupt the plasma packets before the packets impacted on their ships. Shells were spewed from guns, lasers stabbed out, seeking to destabilize the plasma cores, all in an effort to save the ships and the beings on board.  
  
But as each plasma packet was destabilized, it would blind the sensors in that region for a few seconds, and displays showed the plasma packets steadily reaching towards the two ships targeted.  
  
Then it happened. A single impact on the Thereas knocked out a couple turrets. The shock from the explosion disrupted a couple more turrets, and over a dozen plasma packets managed to slam into her hull. Holes a meter across gushed precious air from the ship's interior, but those were the only ones to hit the proud ship. Even as the Captain was demanding damage reports, airtight bulkheads were sealing off the affected section to reduce the affect on neighboring sections, and damage control teams were already getting into position to patch the holes and reset the turrets affected.  
  
But the Holmstead was not so lucky, as over two dozen plasma packets hurled her about without mercy. Even worse, three packets managed to hit her engines, and the explosion from those engine pods knocked out the other engines, and the Holmstead was suddenly without any way to change her heading or steer clear of the remaining packets, which suddenly could impact along a larger cross-section than before. Engineering sections were savaged as one of the plasma packets literally burst inside the ship, killing everyone in its path.  
  
Admiral Falksten winced at the damage done, but what was more important to him was why only those two ships had been targeted. Bugs normally attacked every target in sight, but these seemed to be picking targets to ensure that the targets were damaged or destroyed. Suddenly an aide pulled something up one a smaller screen.  
  
"Sir, the salvo density from the gunbugs was too small. We estimate that only forty percent of them actually fired a plasma packet. Those are still on course for the Thereas and the Holmstead. The remaining ones are heading towards the Rubof, the Jerak, and the Boltan."  
  
That piece of information caught Admiral Falksten's attention. 'If those gunbugs aren't grown to fire plasma, then what are they designed to do?'  
  
He found out. The remaining gunbugs managed to close on their targets, losing several more of their number to defensive fire. The first non-plasma gunbug headed straight to the Rubof, and slammed into it, hard. The impact dented a section of armor over twelve feet wide, and eight inches thick. However, the gunbug began to extend legs from the slits in its side, and used those legs to hold onto the Rubof's hull. From the front, the head of it opened up to reveal a pair of jaws very similar in appearance to a Bug Warrior's jaws.  
  
They weren't only similar in appearance, they were similar in function as well. The Bug suddenly slammed the top part of the jaws down, and punctured the hull in that region, causing alarms to go off. Even worse, the mouth opened even wider, and a turret crew saw something horrible. There were smaller bugs climbing out of its mouth. The humble cliff mite, used by Bugs in various locations, was now being used as a boarding creature. They hurriedly began swinging the turret around, trying to blast the gunbug before too many of the mites got on board the ship and began attacking crewmembers. They also warned the Rubof's Captain, telling her to expect company from the gunbugs.  
  
The first few mites began crawling into the ship's hull, and MI squads fanned out to destroy them, without using their guns or grenades. Their guns could ricochet off the hull and compromise other internal compartments, and grenades were too dangerous. Forced to use shock sticks and machetes, the troopers waded into the mites, electrocuting them and cutting them in order to prevent the mites from getting into service tunnels and cutting vital control cables.  
  
The turret crew managed to get the turret turned around, and they opened fire, blowing the gunbug away from the ship's hull. The mites that were still coming out of the bug were flung away, with only a few managing to touch the ship, and none of them able to get a grip before they bounced off. But that was one bug among over two dozen that had attached to the ship. The others were luckier than the first, and managed to unload their cargoes of mites before releasing themselves, and heading off towards the external equipment on the ships, intending to damage and destroy anything they could.  
  
Admiral Falkstein watched as the horror of the battle got worse, because the main transport Bugs were closing on the remnants of his fleet. He had started out with eight vessels, but three were down due to the boarding mites, and two more were damaged from the plasma gunbug attack. The second group of fighters was coming on as fast as they could in order to destroy the gunbugs, but they would have to decelerate in order to accurately target the gunbugs that were letting out the mites.  
  
Which left three Methuselah class starships against two transport Bugs, with all the plasma Bug fire that hinted at. Normally a Methuselah class starship was an equal match for a transport Bug, but these transport Bugs had managed to draw off all the fighters that would have normally helped in such a fight. The ships themselves would have to deliver the sustained and knockout blows, and the crews would have to be good enough.  
  
While that was going on, one of the fighter squadrons engaging the Space Ripplers had managed to get a breather. His perspective of the battle showed him something strange. Both of the Transport Bugs were venting atmosphere and bodily fluids from a hole in their carapaces. Not caring who had made those holes to begin with, he told the rest of his flight to form up on him. Locking their weapons onto those discharges, they let fly with all their remaining missiles into one of the Transport Bugs.  
  
Normally, fighter missiles are not used against Transport Bugs. Their hides are too tough, and the warheads are too small to be combat useful. But when you have an already damaged section of the Bug, venting gases and fluids from its internal organs, those missiles are lethal. The twelve warheads actually detonated inside the Transport Bug, causing all their explosive force to be delivered internally, with none of the waste that an external blast would possess. The transport Bugs were designed to handle stress of combat, but internal blasts like that were simply too much for one to take, and the Transport Bug blew apart in a shower of fluids that began cooling and freezing in the vacuum of space.  
  
Seeing the explosion, the Lieutenant called in his report over the tactical net, "Any fighter squadrons with missiles. The Transport Bugs have a large hole in their sides on the starbord side. We just punched twelve missiles into one, and it blew up. If anyone has some missiles, this would be a good way to use them."  
  
Various other squadron leaders heard the report, but most of them had used up their missiles against the Space Ripplers. There were two squadrons that still had missiles, but they were in a rough dogfight with the Ripplers, and would need cover to deal with them. Agreeing to switch off, the two squadrons turned towards each other, intending to surprise the Ripplers.  
  
"Nigron squadron, pull up in three, two, one, now!"  
  
The pursued squadron suddenly pulled upwards from their line of sight, and the Ripplers were momentarily startled. The other fighters were waiting for the maneuver, and their guns blew a half-dozen out of the sky in less than a second. With their tails cleared, Nigron squadron turned towwards the remaining transport Bug, locked on with their missiles, and destroyed it.  
  
The destruction of the last Transport Bug seemed to take the last bits of cohesion out of the Bug fighters and gunbugs. The three unattacked warships were apply to add their firepower against the gunbugs, and pilots on board their vessels ferried over MI squads to help deal with the rock mites that were crawling around the ships. As the ships dealt with the gunbugs, half the fighters that had been detached to deal with them were able to return to the space dogfight, and their added numbers doomed the Ripplers. The first thing they did was launch their missiles at Ripplers from long-range, and the sudden deaths shocked the remaining Ripplers.  
  
The clean-up took less than a minute for the space battles, but the rock mites were very annoying, and took over three hours to be cleaned out, as some would hide for a while then begin chewing on cables. When everything was cleared out, Admiral Falkstein looked over what was left of his fleet.  
  
Of the eight ships that had entered the system, three were fully combat capable, one was in moderate shape due to plasma damage, one was in serious damage due to engine room explosion, and three more needed to have wires re-run. Their fighter situation was better though, as of the four hundred and eighty fighters embarked, three hundred and fifty had maanged to survive. Of the seventy fighters that had been destroyed, sixty pilots had been recovered by after battle search and rescue. For the ten pilots that would forever be MIA, their names were added to the list of those who died in battle.  
  
But the last Bug defenses were cleared from in-system, and the transports closed on the planet, with their cargoes of troops and ground defenses ready to depart. SICON intended to retake this system and mold the genetic potential there into a word fit for humans, and when SICON spoke, the forces of humanity went.  
  
*  
  
The ground bases were set up quickly, as there appeared to be no surviving Bugs on-planet. Suspicious about the lack of opposition, the lieutenant kept their troops on guard, not making them paranoid, but not letting them completely relax either. It was a delicate edge they had to hold, and edge that had often been the only way to survive when they had fought on Earth.  
  
Admiral Falkstein was reviewing the battle records, putting together a detailed analysis of the new species involved, and the Bug tactics as well. Physical samples of the dead bugs were being assembled in ranks of sealed containers, and the original records were copied to the drone's memory banks. But as the battle replayed itself yet again, there was a simple question being raised. Where had the holes in the sides of the Transport Bugs come from? It hadn't been from any of the SICON craft, as all their movements and missile fire had been recorded, yet the holes were there. They were obviously fresh, as the Bugs were not likely to travel around with gaping holes in their sides leaking fluids and other stuff.  
  
The biologists' report was even more worrisome. The Space Ripplers had been optimized for space saving. Their legs were designed to allow their bodies to fold into small packages, and small holes in their sides connected to their circulatory systems, allowing them to be stored in small spaces, yet kept alive for when needed. The Transport Bugs had not been of the ordinary variety either, these had been of the royal transport species. The standard transport was easily vulnerable to shipboard missile fire, but the royal transport was an extremely hardy form, able to handle shipboard missiles with very little damage actually taken.  
  
Yet these Bugs had gaping holes in them. What had caused them? Even worse, it was obvious from post-battle viewing of the gun cameras that it had been a single hit that had cause the holes.  
  
A staff ensign finally showed what had happened. The fighters had recorded the debris venting from the sides of the Transport Bugs before the battle had even started, but even more importantly was what it had seen byond that.  
  
Three blips.  
  
Three single blips that had been on the starboard side of the Transport Bugs when they had been barely spotted by a single fighter.  
  
Three blips that didn't correspond to any known SICON vessel, and retreated instead of helping out with the battle.  
  
Three blips that could engage royal transport Bugs with firepower sufficient to punch a hole in them with a single shot.  
  
Who were they?  
  
The admiral and his staff slept very lightly that night, worrying that they might find out.  
  
*  
  
But the troopers going into battle didn't know about that. All they knew was that they had spent three hours cleaning out Bugs from the ships, and their lieutenant had kept them ready to repel any Bug surprise on the planet below. The Roughnecks were one of those squads, and Lieutenant Rico was responsible for making sure that no Bugs managed to sneak up on them. Adding to his problems, he had been part of the initial briefing, and had seen the damage done to the royal transports.  
  
It was originally Razak's Roughnecks who had been on board the Valley Forge when they had encountered a royal transport bug, and the sheer firepower needed to destroy one from the outside was staggering. However, Lieutenant Razak was no longer with the squad, as he had been killed by a giant Water Tiger bug on Earth. Command of the squad had been given to Johnny Rico in a battlefield promotion by General Redwing, and Johnny Rico's old Drill Instructor had 'volunteered ' to be the squad's new seargeant. Volunteered as in he did the paperwork to transfer himself into the squad, before anyone else had noticed. He was now serving as Lieutenant Rico's seargeant, a position that he had filled excellently.  
  
Thanks to him, Rico had transferred most of the load of worrying about any surprise the Bugs might pull onto him, while Rico had to keep the knowledge about the Blip race to himself. The new force had been given that name, as nothing else was known about who or what they were. Even more restricting was that the intelligence on the new race was restricted to officers only, making it more difficult for the troopers to relax. The rumor mill had been working on board the ships, and the troopers were getting jittery. Bug they could see, understand, and kill. The Blips though, were shadowy forces. They had struck with massive firepower, but seemed to pull away before being accurately scanned.  
  
It seemed to him that the Blips were only afraid of being observed, not of fighting. Intel's current conjecture was that the Bugs had annoyed the Blips somehow, and the Blips were retaliating. It seemed as though humanity was now a minor player in the battle for control of the galaxy. On one side was the Bugs, with their hundreds of thousands of worlds under their control, and the other was the Blips with their deadly weaponry. Where did humanity fit into this war? Could humanity be a new force to unravel the deadlock between the two races, and use that leverage to bring itself to control of the galaxy? Or would humanity be a minor spark compared to these two forces that were determined to conquer.  
  
But those questions would have to be left to higher ranking personnel. If he started thinking along those lines, he would hesitate at a critical moment, and doom his squad. After all, soldiers in the field were not paid to think, and officers were paid to think only when needed.  
  
*  
  
After two weeks of no activity on planet, General Redwing gave the orders. It was time for the forces at Shrike 12 to move out, and keep attacking the Bugs. Astronomy had picked out six systems nearby that had the proper type of suns to support human life, and it was time for the troops to find out if they were held by the Bugs, or would be held by humans. Twelve more ships had arrived, along with six more transports full of supplies and additional personnel, bringing the total of combat ready ships around Shrike twelve to eighteen. Two ships, the Thereas and the Holstead, were still undergoing repairs. The Thereas would be back in action in a couple more days as the destroyed turrets were pulled out and replaced, but the Holmstead was waiting on the new engines that the transports had brought with them, and would have to wait for a week as the new engines were installed and connected properly.  
  
But that left six ships that would function as planetary defense, and two ships that could go out and investigate each star system. Troopers were loaded on board, and the twelve ships set out for the systems. As each pair approached its system, fighters would be launched to scout out ahead and warn of any enemy presence. The systems were named already, so there was no bickering among the captains for that honor.  
  
The ships headed in-ystem, and the fighters were busy watching their screens, watching for any sign of Bug presence. This was a tough job, as the usual signs of human life were the large centralized colonies on the surface of a planet. With Bugs, the only guaranteed safe way to spot a Bug was to observe a Transport leaving the system. Otherwise, it would depend on the population size of the Bugs. If there was a large population, then the signs were obvious, as the large hive structures could be seen from orbit easily. The problem with that was the simple fact that it was a large population, and would require several months of siege to conquer the planet. If it was a small population, the Bugs might not even be spotted at all, simply living and breeding below ground until the planet's ecosystem was converted to what the Bugs preferred.  
  
So if SICON wanted to find out for sure if a Bug presence was on-planet, they would have to resort to stationing several squads of MI all over the planet, and leaving them there as bait for the Bugs to attack. The tactic was extremely dangerous, but the only one that seemed to work effectively. Squads assigned to these jobs had a higher mortality rate than usual, so the lieutenant in charge often requested (and received) higher than normal loads of ammunition, grenades, and various other special weapons. Also, There were always two fighters and a transport ship on duty for each squad, ensuring that if they got in trouble, the transport could get them out of trouble, and the fighters would make even more trouble for the Bugs that attacked.  
  
Still, for the troopers who had to sit there, and wait to be attacked, the few minutes between Bugs attacked and reinforcements arrived could be a very long time. It wouldn't be boring, but it would feel like an eternity to people who might be seeing hordes of armored creatures heading towards them, not caring about losses in their desire to kill.  
  
On each of the six systems found, only three planets total could support human life, or somthing similar. The other planets in the systems needed special equipment and bases to be inhabitable by humans, and the appropriate materials were ferried down from the ships. The standard procedure for checking a system was to start at any habitable worlds, than work outward from the star. If there was more than one star, start with the primary, then go to the secondary.  
  
The net result of this was that it often took two to three months to check a system for Bug presence. If there was an asteroid belt, they now had to clean out the entire belt, to make sure there were no Ice Bugs hiding there. Even after they had scanned a planet, it was necessary to leave behind sensors to make sure no squatters arrived after the planet ha been deemed clean.  
  
The Roughnecks were one of the many squads chosen for this task. They landed forty five degrees above the equator of the planet Reddard 2, and set up their camp in a high, clear area. There was open terrain around, and the ground below was granite, giving their sonic sensors plenty of opportunity to hear the Bugs before any tunnelers managed to get near them. Unfortunately, it was the local winter for that part of the planet, and temperatures dropped to negative twenty celsius. Combined with the lack of anything to block the wind, and you had a recipe for frozen trooper.  
  
T'Phai had observed the briefing and the temperature data, and had brought along two additional temperature regulators for his suit, as the only time he was comfortably warm was in the middle of a fire. But he was a soldier, and he did not enlist to be comfortable. He had seen ten years of combat against the Bugs on his homeworld, and had spent several months as a slave to a controller Bug. He knew what awaited the galaxy if the Bugs won, and he would not let that happen to his children.  
  
In the meantime, the dropship was being loaded with survival gear and rations, and the Roughnecks were boarding. Sargeant Zim was checking everyone's gear, to make sure that nothing was left behind. Although he knew that everyone in the squad was a professional, there was always a first time, and Private Brutto had never been off-planet for potential combat yet. The little stint that the Roughnecks had pulled on Shrike 12 hadn't really counted, because no Bugs had shown up on-planet.  
  
But everyone had their gear ready, and were ready to go. Gossard and Doc Lacroix had gotten their Marauder suits, and several power cells for them, for when the first ones ran empty. Everyone had gotten a double ration of ammunition and grenades, and since the planet they were landing on was habitable, that meant they didn't have to carry too much extra oxygen.  
  
Once on-planet, Rico got everyone organized, and laid out the watch schedule. There would be two people on watch at all times, and the rest of the time would be taken up with exercise, weapons checks, and a few games. The local day was twenty-eight hours long, so by putting everyone in four hour shifts, they would all have time to rotate around the day, while still knowing exactly when they were on duty next.  
  
For the next several days, the troopers enjoyed a little R&R, but knowing all the time that they could be attacked by Bugs. It was almost relaxing to be able to play games like this, but terrifying because they never knew if a Bug force was gathering around them to attack.  
  
When the first Bugs attacked, it was almost a relief. 


	4. Calculations

Private Brutto and T'Phai were on watch at night when the Bugs attacked. They had been talking to each other about Max's father, Seargeant Brutto, when the motion sensor that had been set up earlier went off.  
  
Less than two seconds later, the ground five hundred meters away opened up and Warrior Bugs began to pour from the hole, and screaming their rage at the bipeds who were there. Over a hundred Bugs surged from the hole within ten seconds, and more jostled their way up from the caverns below. This scene was repeated all over the planet, and squads who had been relaxing or playing found themselves under vicious attack by four legged horrors that didn't care if they lived or died.  
  
The two Fleet ships in orbit immediately launched fighters to assist, but the Bugs had another surprise for them. Plasma Bugs had been hidden below planet the entire time, and were trundling to the surface. As they reached the surface, they elevated themselves and belched plasma out towards the ships and other craft in orbit. Ships that had turned towards the planet to bring their guns to bear had to suddenly dodge the incoming fire or be damaged or destroyed.  
  
At the Roughnecks' location, they didn't know all of this. All they knew was that the ground had rumbled, and there was assault rifle fire over their heads, and grenades going off. Flores managed to get her gear ready first, and began launching grenades at the swarm of Bugs charging in, causing gaps to form in their mass, holes that were filled with more Bugs coming up from below. The other squad members were getting ready as well, and assault rifle fire intensified as the other squad members grabed their weapons and opened fire.  
  
But standard fire would not suffice for this, as the Bugs were still pouring out of the hole they had made. Seeing them coming out of one hole gave Lieutenant Rico an idea.  
  
"Gossard, grab a tactical nuke, and fit it to your rifle."  
  
"Sir, won't that be a little dangerous?"  
  
"Do it."  
  
As Gossard attached the nuke to his rifle, Rico explained his idea.  
  
"I want you to place that round inside the hole the Bugs are coming out of. It'll give us a minute of slack."  
  
Realizing what Rico intended, Gossard stepped back from the rest of the squad, and began elevating his rifle, until the suit's sensors reported that he was at the right angle to hit the hole. A quick squeeze on the trigger, and a small holocaust was dropped into the hole.  
  
"Everybody down", yelled Rico.  
  
The onrushing Bugs noted the slackening of fire from the humanoids, and rushed faster to get in and tear them apart. But running as fast as they were, they were ill-prepared for when the blast wave washed over them, hurling them into the air like leaves in a storm. The Roughnecks had been expecting the blast, and only got knocked back by ten feet.  
  
"Seargeant Zim, take Flores and T'Phai with you, and clean up any Bugs that got knocked behind us. We'll get rid of this batch."  
  
"Yes sir. You two, follow Me!"  
  
The three soldiers turned around, and began heading back through the encampment, checking for any Warrior Bugs that were still alive. Rico had chosen Flores and T'Phai because they were the best shots, and Sargeant Zim would be able to coordinate them effectively. In the meantime, Rico and the other Roughnecks had opened fre on the remaining Bugs, and were dealing with them very effectively.  
  
In the span of two minutes, all the remaining Bugs had been wiped out, with no casualties among the Roughnecks. Reporting the attack to the Ship above, Rico learned of the other attacks. The Captain told him to wait for ten minutes until retrieval ships were done ferrying troops and replacement supplies down to the planet and back, and then there would be a command briefing that Rico could participate in.  
  
Ten minutes later, the link was set up. Captain Morstern was in charge, so he started by having a staff officer give a full briefing to all the MI lieutenants on the ground.  
  
"What happened was the Bugs just seemed to throw everything they had at the squads and at us. Other than that initial assault, we haven't seen any more signs of Bug activity on the planet, or anywhere in the system. Our status is as follows; of the twenty squads on-planet, three were lost with all troopers, five are down to half-strength, and of the remainder only two squads are in perfect shape. Those two are the Roughnecks and the Veltans. The remaining ten squds are all missing at least one trooper, and we are treating those troopers in medbay as we speak. Twelve more squads are on the way down to the planet to strike the sites where the three squads were destroyed.  
  
"Fighters are also returning from their strikes on the plasma Bugs, and there were only twnty of those.  
  
"Are there any questions?"  
  
"Are there any estimates on the planet's Bug population?"  
  
"None yet, but we figure that the planet does not hold many Bugs. Unfortunately, that estimate can vary from only a thousand to over twelve hundred Warriors, not including other specialized versions and genetically engineered versions that pop up on each planet. Ths number is of course, after the estimated three thousand that were killed just now."  
  
"Are the other squads going to redeploy to help cover the Bug country?"  
  
"That I will have to leave to the Infantry Colonel on board. Colonel?"  
  
"We will be redeploying some of you, and the rest will be covering larger ground areas to make up for the movements. We will be sending down transport ships with Wide Area Surveillance Packs to assist in this."  
  
With that, the meeting broke up, and the lieutenants returned their attention to their squads. The knew the colonel was still working out woh was to be redeployed, and would get back to them with their orders soon enough.  
  
Rico turned back to his squad and gave them the current situation. There were several curious looks though, as Gossard had gasped in shock when Rico mentioned the WASPs.  
  
"Um, sir, have the Wide Area Surveillance Pods had their engines upgraded?"  
  
Gossard had a good reason for asking this. On Hydora, Lieutenant Razak had attempted to use a WASP to lift Gossard and Doc out of a Bug zone using the two hooks in the Pod. Unfortunately, the engine had not been up to the task, and none of them got off the ground. As more squads reported similar problems, SICON Testing had looked into the matter, and did a thorough shaking of the company that had made the Pods.  
  
It turned out that one of the engineers assigned to the project had noted that the engine had extra power, far beyond what was necessary to lift one trooper, and had suggested that a hook system be installed to allow the Pod to carry a second trooper. Another engineer at the meeting had heard that, and realized that carrying one trooper would unbalance the Pod, and had added a second hook so one trooper could be carried on either side. Unfortunately, the Pod's engine wasn't powerful enough for three troopers, and couldn't lift very far off the ground. Once the report reached the company, the two engineers quickly redesigned the Pod so it had a far more powerful engine, and could now carry three troopers, including the pilot. A note was added in the SICON testing department to fully examine everything a company made, even if the company had tested it themselves.  
  
As Gossard looked over the new WASP, he noted the higher power available, and smiled. If they could get the fuel tanks smaller, and the engine more powerful, they could even have full-time flying troopers. Until then, he could always try to design his own. He began imagining how to hook together two WASP engines onto a single frame, and schematics began to draw themselves, fuel consumption calculations began to be written, and . . .  
  
The other troopers saw the dreamy look on Gossard's face, and sighed. They knew that look, and figured that whoever attracted his atttention over the next few days would be the guinea pig for his next idea.  
  
But Rico managed to bring him out of his daydream with his next announcement. "Three squads were lost with all hand when the Bugs attacked. Several more are down to less than half strength. Most of the remaining squads are being deployed to the site where the Bugs broke out. In short, the Bugs are here, we're being left in this position, which means that we now have five times the area to patrol if we're left here, or we have a horde of Bugs to deal with if we are moved. If Bugs attack us, it may be several minutes before the rest of the squad can arrive to help.  
  
"As such, everybody here is getting double combat loadouts. It will weigh us down a bit, but if Bugs attack, I'd rather run out of Bugs than run out of ammunition. Any questions?"  
  
"Who were the squads that got hit hard?"  
  
"They didn't give us that information yet. I'm sure they will, but for now, we do our jobs." 


End file.
